I just stumbled across this woman's work this week, and am blown away. Her first album, Los Ángeles, was kind of avant-flamenco, but very stripped-down and raw, with lots of songs about death; it was almost Chelsea Wolfe-ish at times. Her upcoming album, El Mal Querer, is a little more poppy/conventional, but it still uses the handclapping flamenco rhythm rather than standard beats, and the visuals (which are also all hers) are fantastic.
First video - "Malamente":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rht7rBHuXW8
Second video - "Pienso en Tu Mirá":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_4coiRG_BI
― grawlix (unperson), Wednesday, 25 July 2018 13:47 (four months ago) Permalink
it's been a while since i was this amazed by every aspect of an artist's work on first impression like this, both those songs and videos are so good and the flamenco rhythms rule so much
― ufo, Wednesday, 25 July 2018 14:19 (four months ago) Permalink
visuals good but the first thing sounds *exactly* like what i'd imagine if someone said 'minimal flamenco pop' to me, it's a snooze
second song has more going on, especially rhythmically, but it still sounds like all the breathy moody pop ever
― imago, Wednesday, 25 July 2018 14:29 (four months ago) Permalink
You might like her first album better:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfDEEyg3AdA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s-MQzPZ6IE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OMwDZUWl5g
I like both.
― grawlix (unperson), Wednesday, 25 July 2018 14:41 (four months ago) Permalink
"Pienso en Tu Mirá" is astounding – a bit more info here:
- https://www.eamonn.com/2018/07/28/rosalia-pienso-en-tu-mira/
- https://www.npr.org/sections/altlatino/2018/07/25/631879546/rosal-as-lethal-mir-and-anitta-s-medicina-our-favorite-latin-songs-this-week
Mentioned here, Rosalía will be acting in Pedro Almodóvar's new film. She's also appeared on this track by J Balvin, "Brillo" - https://youtu.be/tkfM5Aq_NDU
― sbahnhof, Wednesday, 1 August 2018 06:49 (four months ago) Permalink
album is out November 2nd
“El Mal Querer” sale el 2 de noviembre 😱😱😱😱Droppin my new album on nov 2nd ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️ pic.twitter.com/cUkMSw8V44— R O S A L Í A (@rosaliavt) September 13, 2018
Capitulo 1 AUGURIO - MalamenteCapitulo 2 BODA - Que no salga la lunaCapitulo 3 CELOS - Pienso en tu miráCapitulo 4 DISPUTA - De aquí no salesCapitulo 5 LAMENTO - ReniegoCapitulo 6 CLAUSURA - PresoCapitulo 7 LITURGIA - BagdadCapitulo 8 EXTASIS - Di mi nombreCapitulo 9 CONCEPCIÓN - NanaCapitulo 10 CORDURA - MaldiciónCapitulo 11 PODER - A ningún hombre
― ufo, Tuesday, 18 September 2018 17:57 (two months ago) Permalink
Philip Sherburne has a nice profile & interview w/her today: https://pitchfork.com/features/rising/get-to-know-rosalia-the-spanish-singer-giving-flamencos-age-old-sound-a-bracingly-modern-twist/
― rob, Tuesday, 18 September 2018 18:40 (two months ago) Permalink
I'm definitely curious about the album--the newer tracks are so different from the prev album. Like unperson I'm into both approaches but not 100% sure I want to hear handclaps on every track.
― rob, Tuesday, 18 September 2018 18:43 (two months ago) Permalink
new video out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUBMPaj0L3o
― rob, Wednesday, 31 October 2018 15:21 (one month ago) Permalink
lovely bass on that one
― rob, Wednesday, 31 October 2018 15:25 (one month ago) Permalink
I don't love the new video as much as the two before it, but I'm still really excited for the album. And the video is kinda Halloween-worthy, in a way - those creepy backup dancers appear out of nowhere.
― grawlix (unperson), Wednesday, 31 October 2018 15:25 (one month ago) Permalink
yeah I just watched Malamente again and this video is nowhere near that level. I like the autotune on the chorus (?), feels like a quick leap over the Mediterranean
― rob, Wednesday, 31 October 2018 15:28 (one month ago) Permalink
I love all the songs and videos and am really excited for the album to come out tomorrow.
I know she's the subject of significant controversy in Spain given her use of flamenco and Andalusian tropes generally as a woman from Catalonia. Are there any Spanish ILXors that can shed any further light on this? I've seen stuff on social media and other forums about it but there's not any English-language writing about it yet as far as I'm aware.
― monotony, Wednesday, 31 October 2018 22:31 (one month ago) Permalink
Listening to the new album now. It's pretty amazing.
US Spotify link
― grawlix (unperson), Friday, 2 November 2018 14:01 (one month ago) Permalink
really great on first listen. less poppy than I was expecting in some ways. every time I wasn't sure about a track it would swerve in some other, unexpected direction.
I feel like people into stuff like Kelela or FKA Twigs would be into this, though to my taste the amount of space given to the vocals on this is more appealing
― rob, Friday, 2 November 2018 14:42 (one month ago) Permalink
Interesting work of fusion. I like it as it is, Bagdad for example. Agree that Pienso en tu mirá is astounding. I'm sure to check her next.
― Nabozo, Monday, 5 November 2018 09:14 (one month ago) Permalink
album is a bit underwhelming, not as poppy as the singles yeah so what I loved about those doesn't come through as strongly on the rest of the album. the Cry Me A River interpolation on Bagdad is kinda jarring too
― ufo, Monday, 5 November 2018 09:18 (one month ago) Permalink
Pienso en tu Mira is so gorgeous.
― chap, Monday, 5 November 2018 11:26 (one month ago) Permalink
The album is a lot more meditative than the singles suggested - I still find it very beautiful though, and I'm not too concerned about its failure to, outside the singles, lean into pop tropes, as she's apparently made a bunch of songs (some of which she's already playing live) with producers like Pharrell and a guy that did some stuff on the Cardi B album. I suspect her label will want to capitalise quickly on all this - the streaming numbers are enormous in Spain - and release a second album or EP sometime next year.
She also went all-out Rhythm Nation on this EMA performance which to me seems like more evidence that she's a burgeoning superstar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZTaZRLv3GE
Pitchfork gave a glowing review of the album today as well.
― monotony, Thursday, 8 November 2018 06:29 (one month ago) Permalink
Just shows how flexible these songs are. Compare to this performance:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_fWWs8xqb0
― Nabozo, Thursday, 8 November 2018 10:52 (one month ago) Permalink
The Guardian also gave the album 5 stars last week. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/nov/01/rosalia-el-mal-querer-review-flamenco-pop-star-is-a-formidable-new-talent
― brain (krakow), Thursday, 8 November 2018 12:28 (one month ago) Permalink
Hearing the crowd sing along at that MTV performance was really something.
― grawlix (unperson), Thursday, 8 November 2018 13:21 (one month ago) Permalink
The Cry Me A River sample I think works in that it's so incongruous especially in a song that develops into faux-liturgical counterpoint. I wish I understood the words so I had more of a sense of what she was getting at there.
I know nothing about flamenco but this record is great. If she becomes huge I'm more interested in what mainstream pop can co-opt from her rather than the other way round. The way those handclaps just pop amid all the digital production is consistently fantastic.
― Matt DC, Thursday, 8 November 2018 13:28 (one month ago) Permalink
I don't truly speak Spanish but I can give it a go.
Y se va a quemar, si sigue ahí / And it will burn, if it continues like thisLas llamas van al cielo a morir / The flames rise to die in the sky Ya no hay nadie más por ahí / There is nobody left around hereNo hay nadie más, senta'íta dando palmas / There is nobody anymore, sit (?) and clap your hands
Por la noche, la sali'a del Bagdad / In the night, the exit (?) of BagdadPelo negro, ojos oscuros / Black hair, dark eyesBonita pero apena' / Beautiful but only...Senta'ita, cabizbaja dando palmas / Sit (?), head bent clapping handsMientras a su alrededor / While around herPasaban, la miraban / They pass, look at herLa miraban sin ver na' / They look at her without seeing anythingSolita en el infierno / She's alone in hellEn el infierno está atrapa' / In hell she's stuckSenta'íta, las manos las juntaba / Sitting (?), she put her hands togetherQue al compás por bulerías / To the rhythm of BuleríasParecía que rezaba / She seemed to pray
Junta las palmas y las separa / She joins her hands and separates them
De las luces / From the lightsSale un ángel que cayó / Comes out an angel who fellTiene una marca en el alma / He's got a mark in his soulPero ella no se la vio / But she hasn't seen itSenta'ita, al cielo quie' rezarle / Sit (?), in the sky who prays to him/her (?)Prenda'ita de sus males / Ignited by her vicesQue Dios tendrá que cobrarle / So that God will have to cover her
not sure about all of it obviously
― Nabozo, Thursday, 8 November 2018 14:43 (one month ago) Permalink
woes, rather than vices
― Nabozo, Thursday, 8 November 2018 14:46 (one month ago) Permalink
Actually, she's probably the one burning (first line). Maybe it's an execution.
― Nabozo, Thursday, 8 November 2018 14:50 (one month ago) Permalink
There's a hefty interpolation of Jolene in one song as well.
― Matt DC, Thursday, 8 November 2018 15:01 (one month ago) Permalink
It took a couple listens to fix my malamente expectations, but this album is astonishingly good! I can't even isolate favored songs at this point. I can see why monotony called it "meditative" (as opposed to "banging" I think?), but it can also be quite dramatic in what I assume is a traditional flamenco vein, as on Reniego.
To Matt's point, I would love to see the consistently striking way the production handles acoustic space and vocal/sound arrangement catch on elsewhere. I thought JES's pitchfork review was v good--the "global bass" framing struck me as odd at first but thinking of this as a rooted-in-the-local antidote to generic pan-global trop-house is interesting.
― rob, Thursday, 8 November 2018 15:10 (one month ago) Permalink
A lot of pan-global trop-house/Spotify pop has a tendency to fill up every single available bit of space, this uses a not dissimilar sound palette in a much more imaginative way.
― Matt DC, Thursday, 8 November 2018 15:14 (one month ago) Permalink
❤️”Di Mi Nombre”❤️
― breastcrawl, Friday, 9 November 2018 12:42 (one month ago) Permalink
I know she's the subject of significant controversy in Spain given her use of flamenco and Andalusian tropes generally as a woman from Catalonia.
These seem to cover it pretty well, re: Gypsy culture and Andalusian culture:
- https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=es&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.elespanol.com%2Fcultura%2Fmusica%2F20180531%2Fgitanos-atacan-rosalia-usa-simbolos-pestanas-postizas%2F311468865_0.html&edit-text=&act=url
- https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=es&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=https%3A%2F%2Fmagnet.xataka.com%2Fpreguntas-no-tan-frecuentes%2Frosali-apropiacion-que-se-acusa-malamente-robar-cultura-gitana-andaluza&edit-text=&act=url
The original articles were on El Español and Magnet.com. I can't speak much Spanish, but the translation reads OK, apart from google often printing 'she' as 'he'.
A couple of quotes:
"The Gypsy activist Noelia Cortés believes that Rosalia 'uses the Gypsies as something cool to incorporate into her disguise, but she does not care socially' [no le importamos socialmente hablando]." – (El Español)
"Rosalía's own roots offer another complex variable to analyze appropriation: the Castilian-speaking culture of the Baix Llobregat [in the province of Barcelona], composed mostly of second and third generations of immigrants from Andalusia, Murcia or Extremadura, has certain affinities with that of their ancestors, whether on a musical level or in some dialectal aspects. The same happens with tracksuits or car tuning: they are characteristic elements of the poligonera culture, so associated with the Barcelona red belt.
"What the controversy reveals, in any case, is the penetration of the identity debate and theories about racial identities and historical discriminations in Spain. And also the complexity and subtlety of many readings about the cultural products that will come in the future." – (Magnet.com)
― sbahnhof, Friday, 9 November 2018 22:05 (one month ago) Permalink
During the controversy earlier this year, she posted a playlist of flamenco songs that comprise the lyrics and melodies on the Los Ángeles album. Aqui va esta playlist como regalo de reyes, donde podréis encontrar de donde aprendí los cantes que aparecen en Los Ángeles, con las letras y melodías que componen el disco. Que la disfrutéis!!🎁✨☺https://t.co/OPAVqBTewG
Aqui va esta playlist como regalo de reyes, donde podréis encontrar de donde aprendí los cantes que aparecen en Los Ángeles, con las letras y melodías que componen el disco. Que la disfrutéis!!🎁✨☺https://t.co/OPAVqBTewG
"Malamente" won a UK Video Music Award for best pop video.
― sbahnhof, Friday, 9 November 2018 22:30 (one month ago) Permalink
this is not my fav album of a payo ex/appropriating flamenco this year. the relationship between gitano culture and spanish culture is more interesting to me than this music, which leans hard on these signifiers. the magnet article has the sort of weaselly equivocation I've seen before on this topic
also:
The theoretical appropriation of Rosalia works and works well at the narrative level when the intent is directed towards the gypsy culture: the ethnic group has been socially and legally persecuted for five centuries, and although today there is no formal discrimination, the gypsies still live apart in many ways. cities and in permanent social exclusion. It is probably the only Spanish historical case to which the American racial narrative fits.
hmmm
― ogmor, Friday, 9 November 2018 23:28 (one month ago) Permalink
the relationship between gitano culture and spanish culture is more interesting to me than this music, which leans hard on these signifiers
What did you think of Mala Rodriguez's last single/video? (She actually is gitana.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKJE4-9qRIk
― grawlix (unperson), Saturday, 10 November 2018 01:08 (one month ago) Permalink
this is a good album
― j., Saturday, 10 November 2018 02:51 (one month ago) Permalink
I like her singing and prefer the intensity & energy of that track to the cooler detachment of rosalia. as per matt dc, the way the claps work with the glossier sound are what's most striking to me about rosalia, & I wld imagine other ppl will lift that trick
― ogmor, Monday, 12 November 2018 10:28 (one month ago) Permalink
i love this album but man i'm so excited for her to drop her new shit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAVZ5tXL6lU
― monotony, Monday, 3 December 2018 11:30 (one week ago) Permalink
as if to further illustrate this ^ - new video for "bagdad" features a bit of "lo presiento" at the beginning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2WOIGyGzUQ
― monotony, Wednesday, 5 December 2018 11:00 (one week ago) Permalink